Bay Tanner

Bay Tanner's fledgling detective agency gets off the ground when she, the Judge, and Eric Whiteside look into the murder of an old college friend of Eric's. Right before he was killed, Grey Palmer Jr. contacted Eric to tell him that while working as an archeologist on the islands off of Beaufort, SC, he had found the remains of a man who was recently killed. The next day, Grey's body is found underwater, tied to his boat, his face mutilated by the boat's propeller. As Bay and Eric get closer to the truth, they find themselves uncovering secrets that have long been buried.

Bleached-blond call girls rarely bring good news, especially the one who bursts through the door of Bay Tanner's struggling inquiry agency and into her already complicated life. Karen Zwilling swears she's been viciously attacked but can't-or won't-go to the police. With the tragedy of her husband's murder finally resolved, Bay has been yearning for a little tranquillity, but that hope is shattered, both by Karen's plea for help and by the unexpected reappearance of aging playboy Win Hammond, scion of an old Beaufort family, who has been missing for more than twenty years. Why has the prodigal son chosen this moment to return, and what will the consequences be for his sister, Bay's beloved Miss Addie? Add to all this a suspected embezzlement by a local businessman and his questionable relationship with his partner, and suddenly Bay and her young associate, Erik Whiteside, find themselves hip-deep in cases and clients. When a disfigured corpse is discovered on the beach at Hilton Head, Bay's longed-for peace and quiet are irrevocably washed away on the outgoing tide, and suddenly it's clear that no one is who they appear to be, including Bay's former nemesis Ben Wyler. As the pieces finally tumble into place, the shocking resolution may prove as deadly for Bay Tanner as the treacherous waters of Bishop's Reach.

In the South, family is the one thing worth dying-or killing-for... Things are heating up between young widow Bay Tanner, sometime private investigator, and Red, local sheriff's sergeant and her late husband's brother. But, a new case that strikes too close to home endangers more than just her love life. An unexpected call from her housekeeper's son hints that a recent hit-and-run may have been more than an accident. Roberto fears the victim, a local crusader for the rights of illegal immigrants, may have been silenced. But, almost immediately it becomes clear that the dead girl was not the intended victim, and before Bay has a chance to launch an investigation, Roberto himself disappears. Meanwhile, Red and the rest of the sheriff's deputies are working overtime to solve a string of holdups terrorizing local businesses and banks. When Lavinia Smalls, longtime companion to Bay's crippled father, is caught up in one of these robberies, Bay finds herself enmeshed in yet another mystery. What does Lavinia know about this gang of thieves, and why is she so reluctant to share her secret? What clues does her friend, the ancient black man with the intricately carved walking stick, carry in his muddled memory? Then the strange phone calls begin, and Bay realizes someone desperately wants her off the case-but which one? Determined to protect those she regards as family, Bay struggles against the fear that she may be endangering the very people she's come to love in order to bring a killer to justice. Almost too late, she discovers that tempers run hot and prejudices deep when it comes to the growing immigrant population of the sultry South Carolina Lowcountry. In Kathryn Wall's eighth captivating Southern mystery, Bay Tanner will pay a terrible price to uncover the secrets of the Mercy Oak.

Private Investigator Bay Tanner is hired by a young mother desperate to locate her estranged family. Joline Eastman's daughter is dying of leukemia, and all other sources for a bone-marrow transplant have been exhausted. A yellowing photograph and a handful of wartime letters are the only clues she has to offer. But, it's what she's not willing to share that may hold the ultimate solution to saving her daughter's life. Meanwhile, Bay has her own family to worry about. A phone call from Lavinia Smalls, her aging father's companion and caretaker, sends her rushing to the hospital. A few, whispered words, uttered in a moment of semi-conscious confusion, shatter her world and launch Bay on a quest that will redefine everything she thought she knew about herself. Battling time, Bay and her late husband's brother, sheriff 's sergeant Red Tanner, search desperately for Joline's missing family, only to discover that an old murder and a haunted woman from Bay's past may hold the key to everything.

Greed and deception drive the action in this tenth entry in the award-winning series, set in South Carolina's sultry Lowcountry. When bank employee Cecelia Dobbs approaches Bay Tanner's inquiry agency, Bay has no idea her association with the awkward young woman will lead to murder. Concerned that one of her colleagues may be running a scam on the elderly and very wealthy Castlemains of Hilton Head Island, Cecelia is seeking proof she can take to the authorities. The other object of her suspicion is the couple's caretaker, flamboyant Kendra Blaine, whose interest in teller Dalton Chambers may be more than just as partners-incrime. When Mrs. Castlemain dies suddenly of an apparent heart attack, less than twenty-four hours after she accepts the case, Bay is stunned. Still mourning the loss of her father, Bay is also trying to adjust to her recent marriage. Since joining Bay's staff, Red has been chafing under the constraints of working for his wife, and Bay finds herself wondering if something deeper is amiss with their relationship. Then Cecelia disappears, and the Castlemains' grandson, Washington lobbyist Nicholas Potter, tries to hire the agency to investigate Kendra. He, too, believes she could be dangerous- or so he claims. Torn between her unwilling attraction to the charismatic Nick and her growing fears about Cecelia, Bay discovers that divided loyalties can be painful-and sometimes fatal.

While restoring her Hilton Head home after a brush with a hurricane, PI Bay Tanner reluctantly accepts bestselling true-crime writer Winston Wolfe as a client. Arrogant and secretive, Wolfe is researching the cold-case disappearance of reclusive millionaire Morgan Tyler Bell from his secluded private island off the South Carolina coast. Adding to the mystery, Bell's personal assistant vanished as well. But what has Bay's investigative antennae quivering is the apparent suicide at the time of Bell's longtime housekeeper. After viewing the scene inside the millionaire's abandoned mansion on Jericho Cay, Bay isn't so sure she should've taken the case. Bay's husband and new employee is hot to pursue the inquiry. A former sheriff's deputy, Red would like nothing better than to solve the one case his old boss has never been able to close. But as Wolfe's behavior becomes more and more bizarre, Bay is torn between her desire to earn her hefty fee and her fear that something much more sinister is going on just below the surface. Is Bell dead or alive? And who is the elusive man in the red baseball cap who just may hold the answers to all her questions? While dealing with another tragedy that strikes at the heart of her family, Bay Tanner must dig beneath the lies and evasions that threaten all she holds dear-and her own life as well. Jericho Cay is filled with Southern charm and local color, making it a terrific addition to Kathryn R. Wall's sultry Lowcountry series, one of the most absorbing on bookshelves today.